Lords Appellant

The Lords Appellant was a group of five lords who accused – i.e. “appealed” in the usage of the time - the main supporters of King Richard II of treason in the “Merciless Parliament” of 1388. They obtained the death or exile of all the accused, but failed to bring about any lasting reform and they in turn were all imprisoned, exiled or put to death when Richard decided he had the power (1397). They were: Thomas of Woodstock (youngest son of Edward III and Richard’s uncle), and the earls of Arundel, Warwick, Nottingham and Derby (later Duke of Hereford then Lancaster) who was to succeed Richard as Henry IV and repealed the law that they had used in their original action in 1388).